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According to GuestMetrics, the shifts in consumer preferences that took place in the beer category in full service restaurants and bars during 2012 continued during the first four months of 2013.

“Similar to what we saw take place in 2012, during the first four months of 2013, Craft, Premium Plus, and Ciders continued to take share from Premium Light, Imports, and Premium Regular beers,” said Bill Pecoriello, CEO of GuestMetrics LLC. Based on data from GuestMetrics, the unit share trends of the main beer segments during 2011, 2012, and the first 16 weeks of the year through 4/21/13 were as follows: Craft share of beers purchased increased from 13.7% in 2011 to 15.0% in 2012 to 15.6% in 2013 YTD; Premium Plus increased from 11.1% to 11.6% to 12.1%; Ciders/FMB/PAB increased from 0.5% to 0.6% to 0.8%; Premium Light decreased from 32.1% to 31.0% to 30.4%; Import decreased from 25.6% to 24.8% to 24.4%; and Premium Regular decreased from 6.8% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2012, and has remained at 6.5% in 2013 YTD.

“To account for any type of seasonality that might take place in the category, especially during the January through April period, we also looked at the unit share trends with respect to year-over-year changes for 2012 vs. 2011, and for the first 16 weeks of 2013 vs. the first 16 weeks of 2012, which told a very similar story,” said Peter Reidhead, VP of Strategy and Insights at GuestMetrics. Based on data from GuestMetrics, in terms of the y/y change in unit share: Craft’s gain was +1.3 points both in 2012 and 2013 YTD (we note that in the last 4 weeks Craft share was actually up 1.6% vs year ago April); Premium Plus saw a slight acceleration from +0.6 points to +0.7 points; Cider/FMB/PAB also saw a slight acceleration from +0.2 points to +0.3 points (as we’ve noted before Cider is growing at around a 70% clip in on-premise this year); Premium Light’s share loss accelerated from -1.1 points to -1.5 points; Import saw a slight improvement from -0.8 points to -0.7 points; and Premium Regular was at -0.3 points in both periods.

“Looking at the nearly 30 different beer styles we track, the largest share gainers continued to be India Pale Ale, Belgian Wit Ale, and Bitter Pale Ale, coming at the expense of Pale Lagers,” said Pecoriello. “I.P.A. in particular continues to register robust unit growth, which accelerated from 40% in 1Q13 to about 43% during the most recent 4 weeks, so there’s no sign of I.P.A. losing steam.”

“As we are seeing across all the alcohol categories, consumer tastes are rapidly evolving, so we believe it is critical for restaurant operators to have detailed knowledge of these trends in order to carry the optimal menu offerings at the right prices,” said Brian Barrett, President of GuestMetrics.

About GuestMetrics LLC

GuestMetrics, LLC is revolutionizing how the hospitality industry operates. Despite the dawn of the Digital Age having begun more than three decades ago, the hospitality industry essentially functions the same way it did centuries before. GuestMetrics has cracked the code by collecting billion dollars in sales from tens of thousands of restaurants, and turning billions of raw transactions into intelligible data that is fundamentally transforming the business operations of everyone from the independently-owned bar/restaurant on the corner, to multi-national chains, to the food & beverage companies that supply them. Please visit www.GuestMetrics.com for more information and to arrange for a free demonstration.